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Why does my craving for coffee continually lead to my consuming sub-par food, purchased at Starbucks? Venti Christmas Roast and the fruit and cheese plate. That should be hard to mess-up, right? Right?
WRONG.
I grabbed some Wheat Thins from home on my way out the door, deciding that Starbucks would have to be my lunch for the day. The gloomy weather, car trouble, and sleepiness would make me late for work otherwise!
Friendly voices greeted me in the drive-thru lane of the Starbucks at 8801 4th Street North in St. Pete. I marveled at the car in front of me. I don’t believe in drive-thrus. Occasionally, however, a need for a caffeine jolt and soggy weather make one a necessity. How-oh-how could the woman in front of me taken so long? I can only imagine that she must have engaged the poor Barista in much conversation, spilled coffee all over her, or asked for something wrong/different than one she told the drive-thru box. I listened to TWO complete country songs before moving up to the window.
No problems getting the coffee, the napkins, the fruit & cheese plate. In my haste to get to the office, I only casually glanced at the fruit/cheese, before stowing it in a back to take to work.
Coffee was drunk. Enjoyed. The Christmas blend tends to be a reliable one for Starbucks every year.
Hunger came. My toast and blueberry jam that comprised my quickly eaten breakfast were not holding up. I needed to eat, pronto! I pulled out my wheat thins. I pulled out the Fruit & Cheese plate. I sighed at what I saw.
The Starbucks to-go food was not “expired” according to the sell by date. The grapes and apples had seen FAR better days, however. I tried the apple. Not crispy, but edible. Grapes—refused to try! Green grapes should never be brown. And brown grapes shall never make it into my mouth intentionally. The cheese? Just okay. The brie was ridiculously solid. No hope for a yummy, ripe, runny brie the way brie should be enjoyed. Instead a bland, hard brie that mostly just tasted cold. Glad for my crackers, as the two broken Carr’s crackers would not have been overly useful. Didn’t these plates used to come with bread? Or was that just a NYC thing?
Now I know I will be hungry later. At least, I can have more coffee (or perhaps I’ll go with the safer Earl Gray tea) with a bite of my Endangered Species 88% Extreme Dark Chocolate bar.
The Good (Photo One: Muffaletta at Mazzaro’s)
The Bad (Photo Two: Soggy Grilled Caprese Sandwich at Mazzaro’s)
The Ugly (No Photo Available: Dismal turkey sandwich at Cafe Bohemia)
Sandwiches are hard to do…
I’ll say that. They can be great, they can be miserable. A whole midday can be made or destroyed by the sandwich. Unfortunately, good ones are hard to come by.
A visit to Cafe Bohemia met with disappointment—stale bread, missing ingredients (according to menu), bland flavors, and expensive. Additionally, forced to consume inedible coffee (at a coffee shop, no less!) that tasted like it had been left out for too long from ground coffee that had not been properly stored/perhaps was a bit too old.
The visit to Mazzaro’s? Faired better. I just happened to chose the wrong sandwich. And you have to deal with the crowds of NYC-like proportions. (No worries of crowds at Cafe Bohemia, other than a few homeless men walking by, we were the only customers!) But the sandwiches at Mazzaro’s are amazingly cheap!
Love the menu, love the groceries, love the prices, love the wine. Mazzaro’s you’ve got a lot going for you! Unfortunately, I chose the wrong sandwich on a sunny Saturday earlier this month. My Grilled Caprese was soggy and cold—the mozzarella cheese was still refrigerated while the pesto toast was wet and limp. Sadness in sandwich form. Luckily, however, my friend’s Muffuletta with ham, mortadella, salami, provolone, olives, etc. was GINORMOUS. Seriously large. Seriously tasty. Definitely not a sandwich for the wimpy.
Tossing my “toast” aside, I gratefully chowed down on the other half of my friend’s sandwich—the kind of sandwich so large you can barely get your mouth around it!
Cafe Bohemia—I shall not return. Mazzarro’s—I shall be careful with what I order. But I will definitely revisit the Italian Market for another large, inexpensive Muffuletta sandwich. With a bottle of wine, live music, and a couple of friends—that Mazzaro’s lunch could be a wonderful way to spend a Saturday now that college football season is drawing to a close…
On the encouragement of my friend, I ordered the Blazing Buffalo Chicken from Boar’s Head at Publix on Monday. Come lunch yesterday, I was excited to try this new sandwich and deviate from my normal lunchtime blues… Sliced thin and paired with Swiss Cheese (Publix Brand), Earth Balance Organic Whipped Buttery Spread, Lettuce, and Pepperidge Farm Whole Wheat Bread, the sandwich proved a scrumptious lunchtime deli delight. Not as spicy as I would like—but with surprising twang for a sliced deli meat. Plus, slightly less expensive than my normal Boar’s Head Ovengold Turkey. With a side of cherry tomatoes and baby carrots, my sandwich proved delightfully satisfying and carried me through the rest of an overly busy day.
Blazing Buffalo, you are one deli meat my office cubicle will see time and time again!
A return from vacation is always a difficult thing. Never you fear, I shall have many weeks of happy eating posts pop up in the next few days. But for right now, I battle an empty fridge and a full stomach.
Rollin’ Oats (http://www.rollinoats.com/) seemed the perfect solution. With the Christmas season now approaching, I am needing to save my pennies while simultaneously putting healthy-ish food in my belly. Plus, days of delectable Southern Cuisine haven’t helped my nutritional index.
Anything but turkey, pork, or fat. That was all I asked for come lunch-time. So, after a surprisingly effortless return to the sunny land of St. Petersburg (where I suddenly am simultaneously sick of sweating and once again long for the crisp, cool days in Eastern Georgia), my nearly empty pantry was useless. All that remained were staples (pasta, beans, dry goods), frozen foods (the unhealthy/icky ones I never feel like eating), and peanut butter (and eating peanut butter with a spoon, while one of my favorite things, is never, ever, ever considered to be a substantial and nutritional meal). My pantry was definitely NOT a good idea for combating the Thanksgiving over-eating blues. A trip to Rollin’ Oats Natural Food Store was in order. I was tempted to frequent the Whole Foods on Dale Mabry, but knew it would be impossible to make it there and back before my accupuncture appointment in downtown St. Petersburg. Plus, I felt lazy and tired of travelling. It happens to the best of us…
I have a few stand-bys at Rollin’ Oats. Most of them are made at the market counter. Nearly all of them involve guacamole. But, though tempted as I always am by the avocado, I had had guacamole the previous night at Burrito Border (partnered with hot salsa and a chicken quesadilla with drained pico de gallo, cilantro, and onion), and was prepared for a change. I would order something new, exciting, and totally healthy…ish.
Diet? I don’t believe in those. Detox? Never really know what that means, but sure, I’ll give it a try. So, throwing my continual guac cravings out the window, I opted to try the Entree Special of the day ($6.99). The gal couldn’t tell me what all was in it, but there was tofu, “Autumn Tapas”, and the plate sure looked pretty. And healthy? The roll with spicy dark sauce was vegan. If it’s vegan, it must be healthy, detox food, right? (Apparently, WRONG. Most vegan foods have more calories than regular, to add fat/protein to vegans diets. As a non-vegan, my body probably doesn’t need all that stuff. Ah well, the crunchy vegan roll was the best part of the meal!)
My hot entree was okay, taken home and consumed with a Organic Raw Kombucha (Original). Only problem? Just like the lady behind the counter, I never really knew what all I was eating. There was scrambled tofu (a little heavy on the ginger, but otherwise fine, considering it *was* tofu), steamed vegetables (excellently done—still slightly crunchy!), cute sweet potato chips around the tofu, the vegan roll, some unknown product (I think a tofu dish?), more strange vegetables, and some kind of icky cold dessert that I could only guess to be some kind of vegan rice pudding thing. Yeah, that was pretty gross and went straight in the trash can after a bite.
All in all? Not bad.
Better than guacamole? Never.
Better than frozen food? For sure.
Would I get it again? Probably not. I’ll stick to my meat-ey, guac-heavy dishes henceforth.
But I *do* now feel totally justified to begin eating Christmas cookies in a few short days, as the start of the Holiday Season truly kicks off!
Realize I have a Kashi Frozen Lemongrass Coconut Chickenhttp://www.kashi.com/products/kashi_entrees_lemongrass_coconut_chicken) for lunch. No time to go elsewhere today. Unfortunately, I am not overly fond of coconut (unless it is in a frothy drink or encrusted on shrimp and consumed by the water) or lots of lemon in entrees. And, it appears, I am not fond of them when they come in frozen food form. My least favorite Kashi meal to date. Thank goodness I was given a delightful rice crispy treat to have later this afternoon!
Woops! After enjoying my Venti Starbucks Coffee and Pumpkin scone, Einstein Brothers Bagels appeared at work. I was able to hold off until lunch-time, but then had to give in to one and a half whole wheat bagels with cream cheese. Only to be met with disappointment. Now no room for lunch and only nostalgia for the bagels in my former home of New York City.
Alas.
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